IVC Senior Day

Last Tuesday at Irvine Valley College, the quad became a showcase for IVC’s many official programs and clubs for high school seniors around Orange County.  The quad was packed with information booths from the Transfer Center all the way to the Administration of Justice Club.  With representatives from every department at the school, high school seniors were able to find out any information they needed to know for their future college career directly from a booth.

At the Student Success Center booth, Jose Arroyo, a faculty tutor and math professor, explains the options and purpose of the SSC.  “We are here basically to talk about the different subjects that we offer free tutoring for and if the student happens to be in different programs such as DSPS [Disabled Student Programs & Services], EOPS [Extended Opportunity Programs & Services], or a Veteran, they can get more hours available to them for free.”  For the members of these programs, they can get up to two hours at a time and one free hour per week for regular students not involved in DSPS or EOPS.  These programs are free to join if eligible and can help with more than just free tutoring.  Check them out at the SSC’s website: http://www.ivc.edu/student/studentsuccess/Pages/default2.aspx

The Transfer Center booth had a lot of useful information as well.  Derek Zara, Transfer Center Specialist, shared, “We have campus tours where we drive students for free to different universities, we pick different ones every semester.  We also have a transfer fair similar to this [Senior Day] where we have universities come out- its like a networking event where students can come and get questions answered.”  Zara explains that it takes roughly two to three years to transfer from IVC, “It really depends on where they [students] place on the placement test, it’s a big determining factor in how long they’re here as well as their major.”

More information on IVC’s Transfer Center, visit this site: http://www.ivc.edu/student/transfercenter/Pages/default.aspx

Aside from school department booths, many clubs had their own booths to share what they had to offer like IVC’s very own student government, Associated Students of Irvine Valley College (ASIVC).  Jasmine Kim, one of the seven members of Associate Justice, explains the process of how to become part of ASIVC, “There are two ways, but the main thing is to get 100 signatures for a form we fill out-one from the senators and one from the commissioners.  I believe you have to have above a 2.0 to be able to qualify and have to get an ASG sticker that costs ten dollars.”  She explains more about how to fill out the form and to add extracurricular activities-almost like a job application.  If interested in more information on ASIVC check out this link: http://www.ivc.edu/student/asivc/Pages/default.aspx

Along the quad there are many more booths to get insightful information from at this event such as Financial Aid, EOPS, Admissions and Records, Careers and Job Placement, Fine Arts, Journalism and insight from guidance counselors themselves.

Joey Nguyen, 17, a Segerstrom High School student from Costa Mesa, and friend Victoria Kue, 17, from Tustin explain their favorite booth , “The guidance counselor one was pretty cool, they gave us a lot of information and chapstick.”

Chapstick was not the only treasure given away at this event, there were raffle tickets given out to every senior to have a chance to win movie tickets, Starbuck’s gift cards, and biggest of all, a chance to win 20 units of paid tuition at IVC.  The director of this event really knew how to get a student’s attention, and her name is Helen Locke.

Locke, the director of student life, had been working for IVC for 33 years, 13 of those as the director.  She is in charge of Senior Day by planning out the event and makes sure everything plays-out as it should.

“We are expecting 2,800-3,000 students this year, because we have 30 busses as well as students who drive here themselves for this event.  We have clubs involved, ASIVC involved, honors students, as well as other students who help around the campus involved-it’s a combination of everyone participating in it [senior day].” Helen said.

Apart from the current IVC students, the seniors were also participating in hands on training whether it was the pull-up competition at the Marines booth, pigging-out at the In-N-Out stand, training for boot camp in an over-sized bounce house, or firing at a pretend shooting range at the Administration of Justice booth.  Students got a lot out of the event, including Rachel Munro, 17, from Mater Dei.  “I plan on becoming a veterinarian, and joining the Theater club here.”

Students are already planning their college success at this event shows a successful Senior Day for IVC.

For more information on more of the booths or events at IVC, click this link: IVC Homepage